By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The AEW Rampage television show delivered 431,000 viewers for Friday’s episode on TNT, according to Showbuzzdaily.com. The number was down from the previous week’s 556,000 viewers.
Powell’s POV: A rough week for Rampage for the holiday weekend show. It’s worth noting that Friday’s WWE Smackdown actually increased in total viewership and in the key demo on the same night. Rampage finished 17th in the 18-49 demographic in Friday’s cable ratings with a .18 rating, down from the previous week’s .22 in the same demo. The ratings are delayed due to the holiday. The numbers for Monday’s WWE should be available on Wednesday morning.
The question remains, will Tony Khan ever realize that people like Riho and Orange Cassidy are over with the anti-WWE smark fans but probably nobody else?
Fun fact: Punk’s debut episode drew 692,000 in AEW’s target demo alone. The show now draws less total viewers than they did in one demo. Must be that amazing booking and excellent matches people praise AEW for.
I don’t think most people take into account how burned out some people are on wrestling by the end of the week, especially after SmackDown. I usually watch Rampage early Saturday morning and even then I’m thinking about football most of the time.
Hell, I’m usually burned out on wrestling for the week by the end of Monday night if we get a bad Raw. And if that doesn’t do it, NXT 2.0 surely does. I’m joking…mostly.
You have to watch it because it’s your job and you definitely have my sympathy. Everyone else is completely free to choose what they feel is the best wrestling on television.